16 October 2013

According to a report published in January 23, the most recent overhaul
of A-level exams seems to be the return to a former system implemented that
consisted of the Higher School Certificate and the School Certificate. A levels are a
qualification which are used to gain entrance to a university. 18 year olds in
the UK who wish to carry on to university usually take three, four or five different
subjects at A-levels (each consisting of two or three exams and possibly
coursework in addition). Universities admit students based on their A-level
grades, making offers during the previous school year. The past system of
education required students to take 5 different exams in different subjects
such as English, math, foreign language, and other subject of their choice.
After having received the School Certificate, they could take another exam in
three different subjects so that they could enroll to a university. This system
was very effective, and many people are constantly wondering why the government
felt the need to intervene and revise it.

Numbers and Statistics

The Department for Education’s final list of academic A-level students
who managed to score AAB cannot be trusted, since it doesn’t show the exact
percentage of students who are ready for the Russell Group. For example, the
score obtained by St Alban was 38%, even though 83% of their students chose to
enroll to one of the universities belonging to Russell Group, while another 11%
opted for 1994 Group universities.

Photo: Stockvault

This discrepancy is caused by the Department’s insistence to include
three academic A scores, which wasn’t very inspired, since there aren’t too
many universities that require three A-levels from an applicant. Besides, the
list also excludes government and politics, religious studies, ancient history,
and economics. What is even more surprising is the fact that ancient history
has become one of the GCSE EBacc subjects as a consequence of too much
ministerial enthusiasm.

Several teachers disagree with the changes made to A-levels, while
others claim that they should have been made a long time ago. The opposition
would slowly disappear if the Admission Service system for Colleges and
Universities was reformed in order to allow students to apply only after they
receive their A-level results. This change would make the whole process go
quicker, and students would get the chance to apply for the university or
course that suits them best. In conclusion, the current system is often
described as being stressful for most students, as well as highly inefficient.

Future prospects

However, Education Secretary Michael Gove has recently stated that major
changes are going to be made to A-levels in England, the only problem being the
fact that these plans haven’t been too well received by university leaders and
head teachers. Starting from 2015, pupils will have to sit exams at the end of
every two-year course that they attend. AS-levels will not disappear, but they
will be seen as separate exams, while several leading universities will make
sure that standards are maintained.

These proposals have been highly criticized, several teachers calling
them incoherent, rushed, and even an unusual way of fixing something that works
perfectly well. The University of Cambridge has repeatedly disapproved with the
changes brought to AS-levels, mentioning that they put at risk more than a
decade of progress towards reasonable access to the university.

University Role

According to Mr. Gove, current A-levels don’t help students understand
their subjects better. As previously mentioned, exams will have to be taken
after two years of following a course, and universities will get more involved.
Besides, the AS-level will turn into a separate exam which can be taken after
one or two years. Even though many of these details have been made public from
last year, the government has been more specific about the date when these
changes will be introduced: autumn 2015.

In other words, there will be no other public exams taken in the lower
sixth year apart from AS-levels. While most universities are looking to involve
themselves in the policy of these new exams, no reaction has been seen until
now. One of the main problems will appear in case Northern Ireland and Wales
refuse to follow this policy; their refusal will only lead to a major rupture
in Great Britain’s exam system.

There are plenty of universities who accept students based on the
results of their AS-levels, but the new changes will imply putting more emphasis
on school references, which will bring great disadvantages to some pupils.
Taking into account the fact that famous universities such as Cambridge and Oxford
have criticized some of the changes involved, chances are the English
population will split into two categories: those who support these changes and
those who don’t.

Author Bio: The article is being authored by a regular freelance writer
Jason Phillips. He is a workaholic person and enjoys writing on different
subjects. Also he writes for the site http://www.yorknotes.com/revision-notes/alevel. You can get here A-level
revision notes and study guides on English Literature.

2
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